Ruler



March 4, 1941, T, REA 2,233,715

RULER Filed Oct. 25, 194C ll ame- "Hull.

llLEilllu.

IN V ENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

the musical staff for musical notations.

Patented Mar. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RULER Thomas Rea,Detroit, Mich. Application October 23, 1940, Serial No. 362,307

-" 4 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, durable and accurateruler for the pur pose of producing a plurality of lines disposed inparallel to each other and known commonly as The purpose of theinvention is to be serviceable in making stencils for the production ofsuch staffs, particularly the production of double stafis for musicalnotations. By means of my invention it is possible to draw accurate,properly spaced lines. Should it appear that one line is not distinct,it is quite possible to draw another line on top of the first one andthe lines will cover each. other without the danger of producing doublelines where only one line was intended. This assurance of producingaccurate single lines is enhanced when a special stylus, of the kindhereinafter described, is used with my ruler. It will be understood thatthe ruler may be used not only for the purpose of making stencils butthat it may be also used for making lines with pencil, pen, or someother marking instrument.

Another purpose of my invention is to provide a ruler which will servein spacing the staffs from each other, also provide an equal spacingbetween double staffs, as when staffs are coupled for notation of pianomusic. I shall now describe my invention more accurately with referenceto the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of my improved ruler.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of my invention.

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows a fragmentary view of a stylus, preferably to be used withmy invention for making lines.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

It will be seen on reference to the drawing that my ruler is acombination of a T-square ordinarily used by draftsmen, with a pluralityof rigid bars spaced from each other and affixed to the long blade II ofthe T-square, in which the head is indicated by numeral I0 and in whichnumeral I2 indicates screws connecting the head of the T-square withblade I I. The longitudinal bars indicated individually by numeral I5form two clusters or sets I3 and I4 of six bars each. In order that theybe properly spaced from each other, leaves I 6, all of equal thickness,are interposed between said individual bars at each end thereof. It mustbe stated that each bar has two apertures at each end, all the aperturesbeing aligned with respect to each other and with respect to aperturesin other adjoining bars. It is by means of these apertures that saidbars may be held together by means of bolts, as will be stated below.

The lower set I3 is held together by bolt ll, of

which I8 indicates its head. Said bolt is threaded into the elongatedblade II of the T-square but the set is spaced from. the blade by a nutIS. The next set, I4, is supported by the lower set I3 by means of athreaded bolt I9, of which the head is indicated by numeral 20. Nut 2|,seated upon said threaded bolt I9, is disposed next to the topmost barI5 of the lower set I3, while the upper set is held on said bolt betweennuts 22 and 23. The whole set I4 is disposed at a certain distance fromthe lower set I3.

In addition thereto and above the two sets I3 and I4, my inventioncomprises a guide bar 24. This is substantially of the same kind andlength as bars I5, although its purpose is different. This bar 24 isseated upon bolts 25, which extend from the lowest bar of set I4,upwardly, through apertures in said bars. Said bolts 25 are secured in afixed position with respect to set I4 by means of nuts 21 and 28. Guidebar 24 in turn is secured in place upon bolts 25 by means of nuts 29 and30. The construction, therefore, of my ruler is such that blade II ofthe T-square supports the first set I3 of bars I5. The first set I3, bymeans of bolts I9, supports the second set I 4, which in turn supportsthe guide bar 24 by means of a threaded bolt 29.

When staffs are to be made with the aid of my ruler, the head II) of theT-square, employed in the conventional manner, assures the operator thatstaffs, when completed, will be properly placed on the stencil withrespect to its edges.

The lines on paper composing each staff are made by means of the stylusshown in Fig. 2, in which numeral 32 is the recording loop, whilemembers 33 serve to guide said loop 32. 3| indicates the handle of thestylus. When lines are to be made, say, on a stencil blank, the T-squareis laid fiat upon the blank, the edge of the stencil is held parallelwith head II], whereupon the recording loop 32 of my stylus is insertedbetween the first two bars adjoining blade II of the T- square, in sucha manner that guide members 33 will be disposed on the outer sides ofsaid two bars. A line is then drawn by means of said stylus along thewhole length of said bars. On completion of the line, the stylus iswithdrawn and other lines are made in the same manner between respectivebars I 5. Ordinarily, in absence of said guide members 33, individualbars I5 would be likely to bend under the pressure of the stylus so thatwere a line to be retraced there would be the danger that instead ofone, two lines would be made, one next to the other. Because in thedrawing of the individual lines said guide members 33 engage two bars atthe same time, there is no danger of any bending and thelines producedby means of the stylus are always single, even if the stylus is drawnback and forth and the line is retraced a few times. It is in thismanner that the staffs are made, that is, one stafi of five lines aboveanother staff of five lines, with a definite distance between saidstaffs. When another double set of stafis is to be made, the guide bar24 of my ruler is placed on the stencil blank over the lowest line ofthe lower staff, the position of the ruler is righted by means of headof the T-square,

and again the stencil is ruled, as above said.

The guide bar 24 serves the purpose of securing uniformity of spacingone double stafi from another. It may be desirable at times to have saidspacing increased or decreased. This is easily done, as said guiding bar24 is held on threaded bolts 25 by means of nuts 29 and 30. These nutsmay be readjusted and the bar may be either moved further from or closerto the i set It. Similarly, since the last set of bars is also securedby means of nuts on threaded bolts l9, it is possible to move the wholeset away from the lower set l3 or closer to it, as the case may be,simply by readjusting said nuts. It will be understood that the ruler isnot only intended for the purpose of making stencils, but it may beequally well used on ordinary paper or other recording means.

Having thus described my invention and realizing that some changes maybe made Without departing from the principle disclosed herein, What Iwish to claim is as follows:

1. A ruler of the kind described as comprising a T-square, a pluralityof ruling bars evenly spaced from each other, and a guiding bar spacedfrom said plurality of ruling bars, said ruling bars and the guiding barbeing affixed to the blade of the T-square in the plane thereof.

' 2. A ruler of the kind described, comprising a T-square, including anelongated blade, two spaced sets of ruling bars, the latter being spacedfrom each other, and a guiding bar spaced from the sets of bars, andsupported thereby, the sets and the guiding bar being disposed parallelto each other and to the blade of the T-square.

3. A ruler of the kind described, comprising a T-square, two spaced setsof ruling bars, the latter being evenly spaced from each other, aguiding bar spaced from the sets of bars, said guiding bar and the setsof bars being disposed parallel to each other and to the blade of the T-square, threaded bolt means afiixed to the narrow edge of the T-blade tosupport one set of said ruling bars, threaded bolts afilxed to the firstset of bars to support the following set of bars, and threaded boltsaffixed to the second set of bars to support the guiding bar, said boltsbeing threaded to adjust spacing between the respective sets of bars andthe spacing between the bars and the guiding bar.

4. A ruler of the kind described, comprising a T-square including anelongated blade, two spaced sets of ruling bars, the latter being spacedfrom each other, and a guiding bar spaced from said bars, the sets andthe guiding bar being disposed parallel to each other and to the bladeof the T-square and being supported by bolts threaded for the purpose ofadjusting the spacing between the respective sets of bars and betweenboth sets of bars and the guiding bar.

THOMAS REA.

